“It’s okay to change course”

When I was a little boy, Peter Ostrum played Charlie Bucket in the movie Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory released in 1971.

Over time, the production became well known and, due to its great performance, the directors offered Peter a contract to record three films further.

However, little Ostrum’s true interest was not in cinema, but rather in His passion was animals.

In 1971, to celebrate the premiere of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory the parents gave him Peter Ostrum who had 12 years, and horse.

From then on, the young actor met a veterinarian, and it was he who sparked his interest in animals.

After that, and progressively, Peter became fascinated with the animal world, to the point that he rejected important offers in the field of cinema in order to dedicate himself to what he truly liked.

As a teenager, then, he formally decided that he wanted to have a life linked to animals, so, after spending time working with horses in Pennsylvania, he entered Cornell University, New York, where, after a few years, he obtained his degree. doctorate in veterinary medicine in 1984.

Now older, Ostrum gave some interviews in which he told his story. “Being part of the cinema was a great experience, but I knew soon that it was not for me. Leaving him was the right decision“He said in one of them, while in another he said: “I decided that if I didn’t try to get into veterinary school, I would blame myself for the rest of my life.”

After receiving it, Ostrum job for many years in a veterinary clinic from the town of Lowville, New York, where he led a discreet life with his wife Lorettawhom she married in 1987.

Loretta married Peter without knowing that he was the actor from the well-known film, and she only found out about it when his mother told her. “When I saw the movie, I thought, ‘Wow, he had an important role!’” ​​he recalled with a laugh at the Snowtown Film 2018 Festival.

Finally, at the end of 2023 and at 66 years old, Ostrum decided to retire from the profession and dedicate more time to his children Helenka and Leif.

Although he rarely seeks media attention, he reappears from time to time to movie anniversaries o new editions of the Wonka universesuch as the films starring Johnny Depp (2005) and Timothée Chalamet (2023).

Despite all this, there is a curious fact that keeps him linked to his performance: still receives between 8 and 9 dollars in royalties quarterly for the film. “I receive bank transfers of between 8 and 9 dollars every ninety days,” he said during a special exhibition of the film at a cultural meeting, in 2018.

Today, when he gives talks at schools or events, Peter Ostrum tries to tell kids to pursue what they are truly passionate about: “I want them to know that they have options. It’s okay to change course. If one door closes, another can open,” he often repeats.

Peter Ostrum He was discovered as an actor in a school play in Cleveland, Ohio, the city where he was born. It was 1970 and I had only 12 yearswhich did not prevent him, in less than two weeks, from flying to Munich, Germany, to film the adaptation of Roald Dahl’s book, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

There, the little boy spent five months next to Gene Wilder, the actor who played Willy Wonka. To this day Peter fondly remembers Wilder, whom he describes as “a father figure” who treated him “with respect and dignity.” After his death in 2016, he declared that it had been like “losing a father.”

In it film released a year later -1971-, Charlie Bucket (Peter Ostrum) He is a poor boy who lives with his parents and four grandparents, who are bedridden, in a small house.

Charlie helps out the family’s meager income by delivering newspapers after school, until the family, along with the rest of society, learns that candy maker Willy Wonka has hidden five golden tickets among his Wonka chocolates, and that those who find these special tickets will have access to a chocolate fountain forever.

Bucket wants to take part in the search, but, due to his economic condition, he cannot afford to buy large quantities of chocolate, although he still does not lose hope of finding some of the tickets.

At the time, the film was not a great commercial success. He collected alone 4 million dollars at the box office and had a moderate reception. “When it came out, no one was talking about red carpets. I was in my hometown, in Ohio, and the movie just disappeared,” Ostrum recalled in a 2018 interview.

It was with the arrival of cassette VHSa decade later, when the film resurfaced, it found a new generation of followers and finally it became popular.

However, by then, Peter had found his golden ticket: working on his passion, animals.